This week our country celebrates 250 years since declaring its independence. Our founding fathers signed our Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. This document is a most extraordinary, extremely significant political document. This July 4th is an opportunity to once again remind ourselves and our families the very important history of America’s founding as “one nation under God.”
Unfortunately, schools don’t teach history and civics as they once did. We constantly hear from progressives that God and religion had nothing to do with America’s founding.
Many believe, as do I, that America could not have started without God’s blessing. The Declaration of Independence itself makes clear that the God of the Bible loomed large in the minds of our Founding Fathers as they rebelled against the abuses of King George III. The Declaration of Independence is not a long document, but God is referenced prominently four times.
The first time is in the first paragraph, in which the Continental Congress states that they were relying on “Nature and Nature’s God” in their quest for liberty. The second paragraph’s first sentence then cites the central idea of the American republic—an idea in which God is the most important consideration. One of the most important sentences all Americans should know by heart is: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. “
Let’s dig deeper. “We hold these truths to be self-evident . . .” tells us our Founders believed there were universal “truths.” Today, we fall victim to relativism, which discourages us from claiming universal truths. There is only truth, and our Founders believed everybody knew that truth because it came from God.
Next comes a startling assertion in an era when kings ruled. The assertion was that “all men are created equal.” What could that mean? Some people are born into rich families, others poor. People are different sizes and have different gifts. In what sense are they equal, then? The next six words explain. They read, “they are endowed by their Creator . . .” That’s how we are equal! We are made by our Creator, who is God, and we bear His image. This was revolutionary! These words made it clear that no government is above God. These words have threatened every tyrant in the world for the last 250 years.
And what did God “endow” or give us? The Founders said He gave us “certain unalienable rights.” Unalienable is a word seldom used today. It means not only that the rights can’t legitimately be taken away, but that they are so fundamental to our existence that we can’t legitimately surrender these rights without destroying ourselves.
The Founders then summarized these basic rights this way: “. . . that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Notice that the first right is life. Our Founders knew from the start that without the right to life, all other rights fail. The Founders, in their voluminous writings, made it clear that they defined liberty as “ordered liberty” under God—not the license to do whatever we wanted or whatever felt good.
Finally, there is “the pursuit of Happiness,” which was defined in 1776 as the pursuit of virtuous things. That was the only path to happiness.
After this key paragraph, the Declaration outlines all the ways the King of Great Britain had deprived them of these fundamental rights. Then we get to the last paragraph in which God was called on again two important times.
The delegates appealed “to the Supreme Judge of the world” to stand with them in this pivotal moment in history. And in the last sentence, these men, knowing that unless they prevail, they will likely all be hanged, asserted again their faith with these stirring words:
“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
We have a lot to be proud about in this United States of America. I am thankful and look forward to celebrating our 250th birthday, and thank God that our founding fathers believed God was at the center of the new nation being created.
As it says in scripture (Jeremiah 17:7): “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.”
Tagged: American history, patriotic holidays, words matter
